According to the aptly named blackfridaydeathcount.com, since 2006 there have been seven Black Friday-related fatalities and 90 injuries. As well as stampeding crowds, injuries have occurred as a result of altercations over TVs, road rage over parking spaces, shootings and distracted driving.

For employers and store owners OSHA offers comprehensive tips on how to create a safe shopping experience.

Crowd management planning should begin in advance of events likely to draw large crowds, and crowd management, pre-event setup, and emergency situation management should be part of event planning, OSHA says.

Tips include: hiring additional staff; having trained security or crowd management personnel on site; determining the number of workers needed in different locations to ensure the safety of an event; and preparing an emergency plan that addresses potential dangers facing workers including overcrowding, crowd crushing, being struck by the crowd, violent acts and fire.

For shoppers too, a personal safety and security plan is a good idea. The National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) advises not to buy more than you can carry and to plan ahead by taking a friend with you or asking a store employee to help you carry packages to the car. Travelers offers some important tips here.

Reputational risk is among the most challenging to insure, says I.I.I.’s VP of Communications Loretta Worters in this timely tale of Uber shenanigans:

There’s no such thing as bad publicity, the old saying goes. But the publicity ridesharing company Uber is getting lately may not just harm its image, but can hurt its bottom line. And for a business valued by some at north of $50 billion, that’s a world of hurt!

The latest trouble for the beleaguered rideshare titan started earlier this week when SVP of Business Emil Michael was reported by BuzzFeed to have said that the company should initiate a million-dollar “smear campaign” against journalists. Worse still was CEO Travis Kalanick’s response, a rambling 13-tweet condemnation of Michael’s on-the-record screed. (To date, however, Michael still has his job.) Jumping into the fray was Uber investor Ashton Kutcher, who defended the company for “digging up dirt” on journalists.

A company’s reputation is core to its profitability and long-term competitiveness. And the challenges from social media and other interactive online platforms often force businesses to respond immediately. This in part explains why damage from reputational risk events oftentimes does not result from the initial crisis, but from how well the company responds to it.

This isn’t exactly thefirsttimeUber has “stepped in it.” However, leaving aside Uber’s occasional self-destructive missteps, how vulnerable is Uber or any other company with a capricious C-suite?

Reputational risk is among the most challenging categories of risk to manage, according to 92 percent of companies responding to a survey from ACE Group. Fully 81 percent of respondents view reputation as their most significant asset–and most of them admit that they struggle to protect it. The report also suggests that organizations need a clear framework for managing reputational risk that reduces the potential for crises, taking a multi-disciplinary approach that involves the CEO, PR specialists and other business leaders.

While Uber’s Kalanick acknowledged his company needs to repair its image, he clearly would benefit from reputational risk insurance and the expertise of a risk manager–even if that risk manager’s counsel amounts to: “dude, shut UP!”

Reputational risk is not covered under a typical business policy, but companies can purchase coverage as a stand-alone policy which typically pays fees for professional crisis management and communications services; media spending and production costs; some legal fees; other crisis response and campaign costs such as research, events, social media, and directly associated activities.

New reputation insurance products have started to emerge in the marketplace that cover financial losses caused by bad news that harms a company’s profits. For example, Aon with Zurich, Willis and Chartis among others have come out with policies that address the exposures of reputational risk and offer risk management services to help corporations keep their reputations intact.

One thing is clear: as the rideshare business grows more competitive, Kalanick will need to do better at projecting a positive image. And if he took a cue from his own product, and let somebody else do the driving for a change, Kalanick would be following the lead of many a troubled CEO before him.

For information on the insurance implications of ride-sharing, check out this handy Q&A.

If you know someone who leads an active lifestyle, you may already know what a Fitbit is. For everyone else, a Fitbit is a wearable device that tracks steps, calories, distance and even sleep.

Now it appears data from wearable devices may be admissible in court.

Forbes.com reports that a law firm in Calgary is working on the first known personal injury case that will use activity data from a Fitbit to help show the effects of an accident on their client.

According to the report, the young woman in question, who used to be a personal trainer, was injured in an accident four years ago. While Fitbits weren’t on the market back then, her lawyers believe they can use data from her Fitbit to show that her activity level has significantly decreased and is now below where it should be for someone of her age and profession.

The article suggests that “cases like this could open the door to wearable device data being used not just in personal injury claims, but in prosecutions.”

The young woman’s lawyer is also quoted saying that such data could be useful to insurers assessing questionable claims and that just as courts requisitioned Facebook for information several years ago a court order could compel disclosure of that data.

Sounds like another case where digital information has an unintended use in the courtroom.

As Congress meets in its “lame duck” session, we’re delighted to host Cavalcade of Risk #221, bringing you a flock of posts from around the insurance and risk-related blogosphere.

In our opener, Rubber, Road and Lyft: Insurance Crisis? Hank Stern of InsureBlog takes another look at the important topic of ride-sharing. Now that Lyft’s had its first fatality, he considers the insurance issues the service (and its drivers and customers) will face.

CVS Caremark is slapping an extra co-pay on members who fill their prescriptions at stores where tobacco is sold (i.e., CVS’ competitors). In CVS: Drugs, tobacco… and guns? David Williams of Health Business Blog makes the point that CVS is unlikely to extend that policy to stores that sell guns, even though it would be logically consistent.

Talking of taxing issues, in Who will pay the Cadillac Tax? Jason Shafrin of Healthcare Economist investigates a coming tax on high-cost health insurance plans. Beginning in 2018, many individuals will face the “Cadillac” tax. Will you pay it?

Meanwhile, the growing waistline of America is not only having an impact on our health, but on workers’ compensation programs. In Impact of Obesity on Workers Compensation, Michael Stack of reduceyourworkerscomp.com notes that this impact can increase the costs of common work injuries.

How risky is your job? At Workers’ Comp Insider, Julie Ferguson posts a video showing how high voltage cable inspectors work — as she says: “not a job for a hot duck.” Trigger warning for acrophobes!

Another hot topic comes from Nancy Germond of insurancewriter.com in her post Tips to avoid a dryer fire. According to the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), about 2,900 dryer fires occur each year in the United States, causing five deaths, about 100 injuries and over $35 million in property losses annually.

Finally, there’s no ducking the importance of the TRIA issue with our own post on the future of terrorism risk insurance. The imminent expiry of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) December 31 means the clock is ticking for lawmakers to find a solution before year-end.

Despite regulatory challenges, privacy concerns and a lack of capabilities that could stall their widespread use, drones could have a significant impact on the property/casualty industry.

A recent report from IT firm Cognizant suggests that commercial and personal lines insurers that cover property risks are likely to be early adopters of drone technology. Hat tip to Claims Journal which reports on this story here.

For example, a property adjuster or risk engineer could use a drone to capture details of a location or building, and obtain useful insights during claims processing or risk assessments, Cognizant says.

Drones could also be deployed to enable faster and more effective resolution of claims during catastrophes.

Crop insurance is another area where drones could be used — not only to determine the actual cultivatable land, but also during the claims process to understand the extent of loss and the actual yield, reducing the potential for fraudulent claims.

The findings come amid recent reports that several home and auto insurers are considering the use of UAVs.

The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International predicts that within 10 years (2015 to 2025) drones will create approximately 100,000 new jobs and around $82 billion in economic activity, the report notes.

Cognizant believes now is the time for insurers to consider the opportunity that drone technology presents, especially in the areas of claims adjudication, risk engineering and catastrophe claims management:

Cognizant goes on to note that drone enhancements such as artificial intelligence, augmented reality and integrating audio, text and video already exist in some shape or form. Insurance carriers should expect to see the adoption of drones increase significantly as these features are integrated into standard drones, and as regulations for commercial use of drones are defined.

The private sector simply does not have the capacity to provide insurance or reinsurance for terrorism risk to the extent currently provided by the federal program, the I.I.I. says. As a result, in the absence of the act, terrorism risk insurance would be less available and less affordable.

Over at WGA InsureBlog, David Bardelli, senior vice president and casualty practice leader for William Gallagher Associates, notes that with Congress not back in session until mid-November, the clock is ticking for lawmakers to come up with a solution before the end of the year.

Insurers are not alone in their concerns over the future of terrorism risk insurance. Just on Friday, the Real Estate Roundtable reported that while senior commercial real estate executives see a continuing recovery in the markets, they remain concerned about the lack of clear direction in many federal policies, primarily terrorism risk insurance.